'La Rochelle will haunt them' - Toner on Leinster defeat

Ten years on and Devin Toner still can't the game out of his system.

Ireland, under then-coach Joe Schmidt, were seconds away from beating New Zealand for the first time when Ryan Crotty's converted try broke Irish hearts at the Aviva Stadium.

Even though Toner was present when Ireland eventually broke their All Blacks duck three years later, and again for victory over New Zealand in 2018, the scars remain.

The pain is etched in the memory alongside Leinster's defeats to Saracens in the Champions Cup final in 2019 and the quarter-final a year later.

So the former Ireland lock is in no doubt that Leinster's loss to La Rochelle is going to haunt his old team-mates for a long time to come.

Given where the match came in the team's evolution, that it signalled the end of both Johnny Sexton and Stuart Lancaster's time, and where the actual trauma took place, at home, there's no escaping the the fallout will be worse than any defeat suffered previously.

"First one is the All Blacks in 2013 that we lost in the last second, that sticks out the most," replies Toner, almost immediately when asked which one comes to mind.

"The Saracens one as well was big.

"But if you have success over the next couple of years then they kind of fade away a bit but again the one for Leinster, the La Rochelle will haunt them for a lot now.

"Because obviously Johnny moved on, Stu moved on, it's three years that we've lost to them: semi-final, final, final so that will stick for a while.

"If you go ahead, turn around and win it next year it will be forgotten about a little bit but it's obviously the success that happens after that that will put it to the back of your mind."

Lancaster's departure will be somewhat mitigated by the arrival of Jacques Nienaber the